The Not-so-common Sense Safe Sex Test

You are 67% likely to keep your genitals intact.

ANSWERS BELOW So this was as much about information as it was testing knowledge. I just felt the current upswing in STD transmission was a tad scary & wanted to remind people of all the stuff that's out there. Testing is cheap or even free in most cities. Get tested for EVERYTHING even if you think you are clean, you'd be surprised how many people have infections and don't even know it (like 80% of genital herpes carriers). Does that make them bad people? Of course not, if you haven't been tested it could even be you.

If you find you do have something, it's not the end of the world, get treated and carrry on with your life. If you don't, remember it just takes one time, so be careful, and please, be honest with your partners. Lastly, remember you can pass several std's through oral sex, so don't think of that as completely "safe" against anything but pregnancy.

For more information you can read up at the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/dstd/disease_info.htm

To find free testing in your area, Planned Parenthood is the most common provider but typically does not test for herpes or hepatitis: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

This is just awesome: http://takecaredownthere.org/#/watch/down-there-song/

Oh, and if you enjoyed the test and/or learned something of use, a positive rating will help more people find this page and hopefully be more aware, so please rate it well if you found it informative and useful.

Have fun out there and play safe!

And now the answers:

1. An easy one to start. If you are experiencing a burning sensation while urinating and see a discharge, you may very well have an STD. INDEED I MAY--- whenever there is burning, pain or discharge, see a doctor, you may have picked something up. Still, many STD's have no symptoms or very brief ones if at all.

2. HPV, also known as the cause of genital warts, is the largest cause of cervical cancer (in women obviously) YES INDEED--- The virus does not always cause warts as there are over 100 types. Some are sexually transmitted, others are not. These are a prime reason women need to be checked up regularly. As for many varieties, the body usually resolves the infection on it's own.

3. Cold sores are a type of the herpes virus. Can you pass oral herpes to someones genitals if they don't already have the oral type in their system? YES, NO ORAL FOR YOU--- If a person has never had a cold sore, they are more susceptible to contracting oral herpes on their genitals. Oral can go genital and vice-versa. If you already have one type, you are much less likely to contract the other. If it is a cross-type infection, you are more likely to have minor symptoms with few recurrences (there are always exceptions). Side note, herpes simplex is different than herpes zoster, so chickenpox won't give you false results on modern tests.

4. Sticking with the herpes subject, by roughly age 40, 1 in 4 of members of one gender and 1 in 5 of the other are carriers of genital herpes. Which gender is more likely to have genital herpes? FEMALE--- The female anatomy lends itself to being more damaged during intercourse as well as being more susceptible to infection. Next time you are out in a group of 5 people, just remember that it is quite likely that one of those five will test positive (and possibly not even know it).

5. Chlamydia and Gonnorhea can be caught and carried in the back of your throat and passed on orally. Not common, but can definitely happen. What type of medication clears these infections up? ANTIBIOTICS--- These are often silent infections which can be carried and spread for some time with no symptoms. A simple course of antibiotics will clear it right up, but you have to get tested to know you need them now don't you?

6. Syphilis causes open chancre sores in most cases and can actually kill you eventually if untreated. Does having syphilis increase the likelihood of contracting other STD's? YES--- Obvious one here. Open sores = easy pathway for infection. This one causes a lot of damage to your body over time but is readily treated if you get tested and start treatment. It is currently on an upswing particularly in the gay male community.

7. Sheepskin condoms are more porous on a viral level, is it possible to contract an STD while using them as protection? YES--- Herpes can pass through the pores of sheepskin condoms. If you are just using them for birth control and know your partner has tested clean, then they work just the same as latex or urethane condoms for birth control.

8. If someone has an STD and you engage in a short "Just for a minute" without protection, how likely are you to contract that STD? Either one is counted as correct: SOMEWHAT or VERY--- Depending on what you do and how contagious your partner is, either of those answers is correct. No love without the glove! And get tested damnit!

9. Herpes can be transmitted by "asymptomatic shedding" of virus even if there are no symptoms. TRUE, THAT'S SCARY!--- Herpes virus typically sheds (i.e. you can catch it easily) about 10% of the time. 3 days out of 30. One month out of 10. However only about 4% of couples with one infected partner that is using condoms and avoiding contact during outbreaks pass the virus. That number drops to around 2% if the person is using antivirals. These numbers are approximations and you will see slight variations around the web. Regardless, it's not the end of the world if just one of you is infected. Be safe, use protection and take antivirals. People go decades without passing it on if they are safe.

10. Advances in HIV/AIDS medications have largely reduced the fatality of the disease but have also caused an upswing in unsafe sex. YUP, MORONS.--- Now that it is manageable and less likely to kill you, people are once more engaging in particularly unsafe practices. More scary is what is called, "Bug Chasing" where someone intentionally seeks out an HIV positive sex partner for the thrill. I shit you not, go look it up on Google or Wiki.

11. Trichomoniasis is an infection typically causing burning upon urination in women and occasionally in men. Can lesbians contract this from genital to genital contact? YES--- Though lesbians are less likely to pass STD's, they can still do it. Sharing of sex toys, unprotected oral with untested partners, genital to genital contact, all can transmit STD's if you aren't playing safe.

12. 700,000 new cases of gonorrhea occur annually in the United States, mostly among teens and young adults. Is it true that both men and women often have no symptoms even when infected? YES, IT'S LIKE THE STEALTH BOMBER--- There's that silent infection again. Some studies say that up to 75% have little or no symptoms. Other times there may be symptoms that are mistaken for bladder infections or whatnot. Testing is cheap if not free, don't mess with your health, get tested if things are out of whack downstairs.

13. Most tests for STD's do NOT include herpes or hepatitis testing without specifically asking for them. Would you go the extra distance and request those tests even if you thought you were clean, just to be sure? YES--- An opinion question on my part. Having several friends who thought they were negative but then tested positive, I think it is important that EVERYONE gets tested for everything. A lot of the people who think they are clean actually aren't. If you didn't ask for those tests, you likely didn't get them. Check your results, did you? Always ask. Still, most facilities only test if you have had a recent potential outbreak. Possibly this is why Herpes spreads so readily, they tell you that you have nothing when in fact they did not test for everything.

14. By age 50 it is estimated that 80% of women will have a form of HPV (the cause of genital warts). Of the 100+ varieties of warts, only 30 or so are sexually transmitted. Can a woman pass this to her baby in childbirth? YES--- Warts, Herpes, other STD's all can be passed to a child during childbirth. As for that 80% number, that is for the HPV virus, NOT genital warts. Genital warts and the viruses that cause them are only a percentage of the whole of the HPV viruses out there.

15. Approximately what percentage of genital herpes carriers are unaware they have it? A hint: it's a lot more than you would think. 80%--- Yup, 80% have no idea they are carriers. While they may have very mild if any symptoms, those infected by them could be the exact opposite and have horrible symptoms and outbreaks repeatedly. Different people react differently to the same virus. One more reason for testing.

16. Last one. The most common (and easily cured) STD is: TRICHOMONIASIS--- Yup, pretty easy to cure and also a prettycommon one to have. Also not always tested for.

I hope these didn't freak you out too much... maybe just enough to drive home the importance of getting tested. I hope you enjoyed the test and sincerely hope you will do some research into any of the topics I didn't cover (or those I didn't cover in depth enough for you). Again, if you found this useful, please give it a good rating so this test doesn't get buried in the thousands of tests on the site.

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ANSWERS BELOW So this was as much about information as it was testing knowledge. I just felt the current upswing in STD transmission was a tad scary & wanted to remind people of all the stuff... Read more